North Korea’s Supreme Court sentencing Kenneth Bae to 15 years hard labor for trying to overthrow the government. The state news agency said he confessed to that. But Bae’s friends say he’s a Christian who led tours to North Korea and, while there, he would try to help North Korean orphans. And, they say, he went there multiple times.

This week, the State Department called for his release on humanitarian grounds. One U.S. official was quoted noting that North Korea gave him a visa and there’s no reason to hold him.